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Navy’s month-long high sea vigil nets Lanka history’s biggest narcotics haul
- The haul is the largest consignment of drugs seized by Sri Lankan agencies in the high seas
Investigations are continuing to ascertain whether the record haul of drugs seized by the Sri Lanka Navy was destined for Sri Lanka or another country.
The haul of 605 kilograms of Methamphetamine or “ICE” and 579 kilograms of a drug known as “Ketamine” was seized from a vessel in international waters 463 nautical miles (about 835 kilometres) off the Sri Lanka’s southern coast by the Navy’s offshore patrol vessel SLNS “Sayura” on March 28. The vessel was not flying a state flag at the time it was intercepted. Nine Pakistani nationals who made up the crew were also taken into custody. The Navy also recovered 200 packets containing the narcotic “Babul” as well as 100 grams of tablets of an as yet undetermined drug from the vessel.
The seized drug haul is thought to have a street value of over Rs 12 billion.
The haul of “Ketamine” has aroused interest among investigators since the drug has never before been detected in Sri Lanka.
The haul is the largest consignment of drugs seized by Sri Lankan agencies in the high seas, beating the previous record haul of 437 kilograms of heroin and 130 kilograms of Methamphetamine seized in February from two foreign vessels and a local fishing boat 600 nautical miles (approximately 1111 kilometres) off the country’s coast. As such, the latest detection means that the Navy has detained three foreign vessels transporting drugs within the past three months.
The latest vessel and its cargo were brought to the Dikovita Fisheries Harbour on Wednesday (1). Defence Ministry Secretary Kamal Gunaratne and Navy Commander Piyal De Silva were among the senior officials who inspected the consignment of drugs and the detained vessel.
Samples of the drugs have now been sent to the Government Analyst’s Department for testing.
Given the containment measures currently in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country, the nine Pakistani suspects are currently being kept in isolation at a Navy camp in Tangalle after being remanded by court. This is in view of them being foreign nationals. Meanwhile, Navy personnel who took part in the operation and who will have to give evidence in court are also currently in isolation, Navy Spokesman Isuru Suriyabandara said.
“The suspects are in the custody of the police, but are being kept in isolation for the time being. The investigations however, are continuing,” he added.
“Right now, we don’t have enough evidence to determine whether these drugs were enroute to Sri Lanka or were destined elsewhere. We will question the suspects once they are out of isolation and analyse their phone records to see if they have contacts here or whether they were taking the drugs to another country,” PNB Director Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manjula Senarath told the Sunday Times.
The PNB Director said the National Dangerous Drugs Control Bureau (NDDCB) had tested samples of the drug believed to be Ketamine and found it to be the case. The High Court, however, only accepts the determination of the Government Analyst (GA) and as such, he said they will have to wait till the GA sends its report.
While “Ketamine” is generally known as a medication mainly used for starting and maintaining anesthesia, SSP Senarath said what has been seized by the Navy is thought to be a recreational form of the drug.
The PNB Director stressed that the latest vessel seized by the Navy did not have a link to the network that was busted in late February and early last month with the seizure of two foreign vessels and one local fishing boat while transporting 437 kilograms of heroin and 130 kilograms of Methamphetamine. A total of 33 suspects — 14 Iranians, four Pakistanis and 15 Sri Lankans were arrested during the month-long joint operation launched by the Navy and the PNB.
All 33 suspects arrested in connection with this incident are currently in remand custody. SSP Senarath stated that the investigation into this incident was not yet complete and they were still analysing the phone records and other data obtained from the suspects to track down any other individuals connected to the network. Three such persons have been identified and remain at large. Investigators believe the men are still hiding in the country and are confident of being able to arrest them in the coming days.
Meanwhile, police have sought assistance from Interpol to track down and arrest the alleged mastermind of the operation, who investigators say is a Sri Lankan national based overseas.